


Sing Me a Song, Biotic Man

by ShadowPhoenixRider



Series: The Akeelah Shepard Chronicles - Mass Effect 1 [6]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Early Shenko, F!Shenko - Freeform, F/M, Mass Effect 1, Shenko - Freeform, Singing, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-27
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-23 13:58:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6118537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowPhoenixRider/pseuds/ShadowPhoenixRider
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Various things can remind you of songs. A mission, a person, even another song. Kaidan prefers to sing in private, as he's conscious of his singing ability. Shepard, however, sings in private for an entirely different reason, a reason Kaidan will soon find out about.</p><p>Strangely, it's thanks to a broken terminal and a mission to the Moon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part 1

Kaidan didn’t know what this terminal’s problem was, except that it really, really wanted to be broken. It had probably worked long enough to not be a problem before the Normandy started her shakedown run, before breaking and staying broken ever since. 

The biotic sighed as its flickering orange screen held the ever familiar error messages, this time complaining that the extranet adapter didn’t have the required network protocols. Still, it made a change from the previous ‘cannot locate extranet adapter’ message.

Everyone else had given up on it, except Kaidan, who was just as stubborn as the terminal, which was why he was fiddling with it in his evening break, instead of catching up with his sleep. His mind was a constant chatter of thoughts anyway, especially those about the recent mission.

There’d been an issue with a VI on the Luna training base, and Admiral Hackett had requested that Shepard and her crew to go out and neutralise the problem. Of course, there’d been a wave of excitement travelling through the ship that they were going to Earth, with the aliens arguably being the most interested (although Wrex was trying hard not to be). It had been then when Kaidan wished there was an observation deck on board; he’d always wondered what it was like to be on a darkened ship, staring out into the vastness of space, lit only by the stars.

That thought reminded him of something that occurred on the mission, when he, Shepard and Williams were travelling the Moon in the Mako, making their way through the individual facilities to shut the VI’s systems down. He remembered Shepard pausing a moment after clearing the final compound, parking the Mako onto of a high plateau.

“Do you want to see our home, Ash?” She’d asked, and Williams had agreed, the squad disembarking to gaze up at the Earth.

The Earth. The small, almost fragile white, blue and green sphere against a background of black with white, pinprick stars. His home. Shepard’s home. The feeling was...indescribable, to see the planet he thought so large as a child now to be almost big enough to hold in his hands.

_Was that how it felt back then, in 1968?_ he’d wondered.

“It’s so beautiful.” He’d murmured, almost unable to look away from it.

“Yeah, it is.” Ash had agreed, and when he’d looked over to Shepard, she’d nodded too.

“When you look out and see something this beautiful,” he’d said, Shepard turning her head to look at him properly, “well, it really helps you understand what we’re fighting to save.”

She didn’t say anything, but the look she gave him was very enigmatic. He didn’t have long to ponder it though, as she’d slipped back into her Commander role, telling them to get back in the Mako to wait for pick up.

Kaidan paused a moment in his troubleshooting, watching the diagnostics run for the umpteenth time. He’d always held Earth in a special place in his heart; his parents were there, after all, and he couldn’t resist messaging his mother after they got back, telling her one of the bright spots of light above her was him.

But Shepard...From what he knew of her background, she grew up in the slums in one of the cities, desperate to escape any way she could. Yet she’d regarded the Earth with just as much wonder as he did. Could there be something about the Earth that was special to the Commander? Of course, it could just easily be the fact she’d never seen the Earth that way, though.

The biotic sighed, shaking his head. He was spending too much time thinking of the N7 soldier. Like the night they’d chatted together and he’d made that promise to read to her if they were ever up together again. Or when he’d pretty much flirted with her that other time, after bringing Rahna up. 

But he was being truthful when he said she was charming, right? Shepard seemed to have the uncanny ability to talk her way out of situations and into people doing what she wanted them to do. Not nastily, mind; she always did it in a really nice, reasonable manner that made him glad she wasn’t a politician so she couldn’t use her powers for evil.

_How about you remember that there are fraternization regs and stop thinking about like that?_ Kaidan admonished himself. _She’s way out of your league anyway._

Deciding that it was high time to focus back on the task at hand, the sentinel filled his thoughts of possible solutions that could bring this unruly terminal back to normal...whatever that had been to start with. Even he wasn’t sure what the terminal’s exact function was.

As he worked, he felt his mind drift again, back home to Earth, when his dad was home, and playing really old Earth songs that would have made most teenagers his age roll their eyes and complain about his old fashioned tastes. Kaidan had liked them, however, listening to them himself on occasion; he’d never been terribly fashionable. 

One of the songs came back to him as he worked, no doubt inspired by his less-than-appropriate thoughts about Commander Shepard, and despite himself, Kaidan began to sing softly to himself.

“ _I’ve been waiting, waiting here so long,_

_And thinking that nothing, nothing could go wrong,_

_But now I know,_

_She has a built-in ability, to take everything she sees,_

_And now it seems,  
_

_I’m falling, falling for her._ ”

He smiled, even as the terminal threw up another error message, setting it to run an anti-virus scan.

“ _She seems to have an invisible touch,_

_She reaches in, and grabs right hold of your heart,_

_She seems to have an invisible touch,_

_It takes control, slowly tears you apart.”  
_

Kaidan sung a little louder, getting bolder at the lack of people around to eavesdrop.

“ _Well I don’t really know her, I only know her name,_

_But she crawls right under your skin,_

_You’re never quite the same,_

_But now I know,_

_She’s got something you just can’t trust, something mysterious,_

_And now it seems, I’m falling, falling for her._ ”

The biotic’s smile widened at the thoughts of Shepard the song brought forward, his finger tapping out the beat on the terminal’s frame.

“ _She seems to have an invisible touch,_

_She reaches in, and grabs right hold of your heart,_

_She seems to have an invisible touch,_

_It takes control, and slowly tears you apart._ ”

“Hey, Lieutenant.”

The soft feminine voice behind him almost made Kaidan jump out of his skin, his biotics sparking and making a popping sound in his surprise.

“C-Commander!” He stuttered as he spun around to face her. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you come over.” He rubbed the back of his neck, his face boiling hot. A quick glance over the soldier made his blush worse when he saw she was in sleepwear; a black shirt and trousers, an N7 logo neatly embroidered on the corner.

“Do your biotics always do that?” Shepard asked.

“D-Do what?”

“That flaring thing when you jumped.” She elaborated. “Does that always happen?”

“Oh.” Kaidan rubbed at his neck again. “Not, not always. Only happens if I get a big shock,” _and I can’t control them,_ but he left that part out.

“Ah.” Shepard’s eyes widened. “Oh, I’m sorry, Kaidan, I didn’t mean to scare you that much. I was just...” She looked away, ducking her head in embarrassment. “I, I’ll just leave you to your work.” She began to turn away.

“Wait,” the word was out of his mouth before he knew it, making Shepard hesitate. “It’s alright, ma’am. You just caught me by surprise,” he said, a half-smile on his lips, “I don’t mind.”

She looked up at him, a shy smile of her own appearing.

“I don’t doubt your work ethic, but, uh, aren’t there better ways to relax?” Kaidan gave her a look. “I-I mean, surely trying to fix something is not exactly relaxing and that...” She added hurriedly, and he could have sworn she was blushing. It was hard to tell though, with her bronze skin and the Normandy’s lights.

“No, but I wanted to give it a go.” Kaidan admitted. “Seem to solve one problem and get another.”

“Your dedication is an inspiration to us all.” Shepard said, a teasing lilt to her voice. “But what would be more inspiring is our Head of Marine Detail actually getting enough sleep.”

Kaidan raised an eyebrow.

“Respectfully, ma’am, the last mission wasn’t particularly difficult.”

“Says the biotic.” Shepard replied. “You might be able to fling combat drones around with a wave of your hand, but we grunts here have to shoot things until they stop moving.”

“Point taken.” Kaidan chuckled. “It is getting late.”

“Exactly. Best to catch as much sleep as possible too, right?”

“Right.” He nodded. “Can work on it tomorrow.”

“See? I have the best ideas.” She chuckled. “Alright, goodnight Lieutenant.”

“Goodnight, Commander.” Kaidan said, watching her go, before he realized he’d missed his chance to say something to her. _You’re not a grunt, Commander. You made N7 and became a Spectre for a reason._

He shook his head. Ah well. He better get some rest, and put these thoughts about the Commander behind him. After all, the mission wasn’t even close to being over.


	2. Part 2

They were on their way to Noveria, at last. There’d been some bureaucratic wrangling to get a flight plan filed (a big red flag if ever Shepard saw one), but that was behind them now, and there was some time to relax, and catch up on some paperwork.

However, Akeelah had had an idea come to her that morning, inspired by something she’d heard the previous night, and made her way down to Deck Two, where she knew she’d find a certain sentinel.

As predicted, he was immersed in his task, staring at the orange screen as if the answer to all his problems were concentrated into a tiny pixel. She cleared her throat to give an indication of her approach, pleased to see that he didn’t jump. Instead, he straightened up, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand before he turned to her.

“Commander?” Kaidan asked pleasantly. “Something I can help you with?”

“Yeah, there is.” Akeelah nodded. “Do you want to sing a duet with me?”

There was a long, awkward pause.

“You want me to do what?” Kaidan asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I wanted to ask you if you wanted to sing a duet with me.” Shepard repeated, a little less confidently this time as she started to realize how foolish the question sounded.

“Uh, well, thank you for asking. But, um...” He scratched the back of his neck. “I’d probably end up ruining the song for you.”

Shepard raised her eyebrow, folding her arms as she pushed through her embarrassment.

“Is this coming from the same Lieutenant who sung outside my cabin door whilst performing his duties?” She narrowed her eyes at him. “With a perfect tune.”

To her delight, she noticed his olive skin start to darken with a blush high up on his cheeks.

“It...might be,” he said, a shy half-smile on his lips that made her heart do a funny flip-flop motion. He clasped his hands behind his back. “May I ask why, Commander?”

Now it was her turn to blush, and she hoped he couldn’t see the heat rising in her face.

“Well, singing is a passion of mine, and I get a bit tired of singing some songs on my own...” She wrung her hands. “But if-if you don’t want to, to sing with me, that’s fine too-”

“No!” The soldier startled slightly at his sudden outburst, and he seemed just as surprised. “I mean, I’d lo- like to join you. In singing. Definitely.” He shuffled his feet and glanced out towards the mess hall.

“You’re worried about people hearing us.” She inferred.

Kaidan opened his mouth, paused, and then shut it again, not looking at her. The regulations loomed between them, waiting to crash down should they step too far. Akeelah had stayed on their good side, although she didn’t much care for them. Kaidan, on the other hand...She couldn’t risk his career on what might just be a flight of a fancy. He didn’t deserve that. Oddly, it hurt to think about, like someone had tried to force her heart through a bottleneck. She pushed the thoughts away.

“I need your input on some reports anyway, Lieutenant, and my cabin is fairly well soundproofed.” The soldier, smiling slightly. “I just figured it would be a good thing to do to loosen up and relax a little, you know? Kinda like what shore leave’s for, except this one is between missions.”

The sentinel gazed at her thoughtfully, his eyes giving nothing away. Shepard had to wonder how he could be so easy to read one moment, and utterly mysterious the next.

“Guess you’re right.” He replied after a moment. “Few minutes wouldn’t hurt.” Another half smile. “What sort of songs were you thinking of?”

The soldier laughed weakly, shifting from foot to foot. She really should have expected this question, but she still felt her face heat up in embarrassment.

“Ah, yeah, about that...” Normally she’d want to keep her secret close to her chest, but somehow she felt Kaidan would definitely keep them safe. She glanced around the hall before she narrowed her eyes at him. “Promise this goes no further than us, right?”

“Cross my heart.” Kaidan pantomimed.

“Good,” She felt him lower his head towards her, and she leaned close enough to mutter: “I have a...bad taste in music.”

“How so?”

“I...I like old Disney songs.” She admitted.

There was a pause, and Kaidan drew back to look her in the eyes, eyebrows raised high on his forehead.

“Say that again.” He asked.

“I like the songs from old Disney vids.” She repeated through her teeth, preparing herself for the inevitable laughter and or teasing.

But none came. Instead, Kaidan tilted his head to the side, eyes bright with what seemed to be child-like curiosity, the smile in his hazel eyes reflected on his face.

“I never would have guessed that about you,” he said softly. “Which ones do you know?”

“I know a few, but I like the really, really old ones, the ones before CG, you know-” She hesitated. “You’re not laughing at me.”

“Should I be?” Kaidan said, an amused smile playing on his lips he couldn’t fully suppress. “I didn’t expect it, but it’s...” He wetted his lips. “Different. In a good way.” He scratched the back of his neck again. “Do you have an idea of a song? It’s just...I haven’t seen one in a long time, and I don’t know how much use I could be.”

“Well, I was thinking of going for ‘Be Prepared’.” Akeelah replied, shrugging. “Seemed appropriate, considering.”

Kaidan’s brows furrowed.

“Is that the one from the Lion King? That Scar and the hyenas’ sing?”

“Yeah, it is.” She nodded.

“I remember.” He smiled, eyes twinkling. “I know enough, so long as you don’t expect me to be Scar.”

“Why not? You’re the perfect voice for him.” Shepard grinning as he chuckled, running a hand through his hair.

“Thank you, Commander, but I think it’d work better if I actually knew his lines.” He replied. “I think I’ll leave that to you.”

“I don’t know, Lieutenant. Maybe by the end of this tour you’ll know one song off by heart.” Shepard teased, turning to head to her cabin, knowing Kaidan was following her.

“Why do I have a feeling you’re going to take that as a challenge?” There was a chuckle in his voice that had her looking over her shoulder properly at him.

“You’ve spent too much time with Ash. Not everything is a challenge. This is just two officers working together, getting to know each other a little better and relaxing. Perfectly innocent. Like a, uh...like a sanity check!”

“A sanity check.” A wry smile played over Kaidan’s face.

“Yeah, sanity check.”

Something passed through Kaidan’s brown eyes for a second before it was gone, and he smiled properly, eyes crinkling at the edges.

“I like the sound of that.”

As the sentinel and soldier entered Shepard’s cabin, neither realized they were being watched by a pair of blue eyes.


End file.
